Govt urges nurses to end strike

Nyemudzai Kakore Herald CorrespondentGovernment has exhorted striking nurses to go back to work without any further delay to allow it time to work on their grievances.

In a statement yesterday, Health and Child Care Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa, who said Government has acknowledged the nurses’ grievances as “genuine and valid”, noted that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development had since been instructed to look into the financial implications of the demands.

“Following representations by the nursing staff through Zimbabwe Nurses Association (ZINA), Government and the Health Services Board, Government has acknowledged the nurses’ grievances as genuine and valid and thus requiring urgent attention,” he said.

“Government has since instructed Treasury to look into the financial implications of the nurses demands, with a view to resolving them amicably.

“In light of this major concession by Government, which has been made against well-known economic challenges facing our nation, in the interest of patients, and in order to avert any loss of life through disruption of essential services, the reasons for calling for the industrial action no longer obtain.”

Some nurses went on strike yesterday even though the law prohibits them from embarking on industrial action as they provide essential services.

Government, which appealed to the nurses to call off their industrial action to make way for harmonious industrial relations, also said it would take disciplinary action against nurses who failed to report for duty.